International Day of Action in Solidarity with San Juan Copala, Oaxaca

International Day of Action in Solidarity with the Autonomous Municipality
of San Juan Copala, Oaxaca June 2nd, 2011

May 30, 2011 NYC Indymedia

TO THE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD

TO THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND ORGANIZATIONS

TO THOSE IN SOLIDARITY WITH THIS JUST CAUSE

The Triqui people of the Autonomous Municipality of San Juan Copala in
Oaxaca, Mexico, make a call-out for international solidarity to all the
nations and peoples of the world, so that in the coming days solidarity
actions are carried out as far and wide as possible, to exert pressure on
the Mexican government and to shed light onto the situation that the
people of Copala have endured since 2007. This situation has culminated in
the events of the last days and in the Caravan of the Color of Blood, that
is happening now, and whose intention is for the people of Copala, who
were dispossessed and displaced because they exerted their right to
autonomy, to return to their homes.

The Autonomous Municipality of San Juan Copala declared its autonomy
January 1st, 2007, after members of the community had participated in the
Oaxacan uprising of 2006, and from that day onward the Mexican government
has maintained a politic of disrespect and destruction of that autonomy.
The Mexican government has carried out this process through two
political-paramilitary organizations which it has armed and financed; the
UBISORT-PRI and the MULT-PUP.

Since 2007 in this war against the autonomy of the Triqui people of San
Juan Copala there has been a death-count of more than 30 people - among
them young children, women, men, elders, traditional leaders, and
solidarity activists. Furthermore this war has made children orphans and
women widows and survivors of sexual assault.

On April 7th, 2008 two comrades from the community radio station “The
Voice that Breaks the Silence” were assassinated; their names were Teresa
Bautista and Felicitas Martínez.

On November 28th, 2009 the comrades of the Peoples Front in Defense of the
Land of San Salvador Atenco visited to share information on their
political prisoners, but their entrance was denied by the paramilitary
groups. It was on this date that the Autonomous Municipality of San Juan
Copala was put under a paramilitary siege. Consequently the water and
lights began to be cut, and the school was closed, rendering the whole
community without services.

After 5 months under siege national and international solidarity came
through the Humanitarian Caravan of Peace. On April 27th, 2010 the caravan
was ambushed just outside of Copala by the paramilitary group UBISORT, who
murdered Beatriz Cariño (human rights activist) and Jyri Jaakola (Finnish
internationalist). Other participants in the caravan were shot and wounded
and had to spend three days in hiding in the mountains. This is how the
camp of resistance and struggle began in the main plaza of Mexico City to
demand justice.

Later, on May 29th, 2010, MULT-UBISORT assassinated Timoteo Ramírez
Alexander, traditional leader and tireless promoter of the Autonomous
Municipality of San Juan Copala, along with his wife Cleriberta Castro,
leaving their six children orphaned.

On June 8th, 2010 the second Humanitarian Caravan, named after Bety Carino
and Jyri Jaakola, was organized to go to the MASJC (Municipio Autonomo de
San Juan Copala), with truckloads full of supporters, medical supplies,
and food, but could not enter, once again, due to the paramilitary and
military repression. From this moment the threats and repression
intensified. The women of the community were forced to traverse the
mountainside in search of food and supplies, and were often detained,
beaten, tortured, raped, sexually assauled, kidnapped or killed by the
paramilitaries if discovered. This is how the paramilitaries behave
towards the indigenous Triqui women.

On August 11th, 2010 comrades of the MASJC initiated a protest camp in the
main plaza of Oaxaca City to demand justice and punishment to the people
in charge of the attack on the sisters Selena (17 years old) and Adela
Ramirez Silvas (15 years old), who is now paralyzed after being shot by
the paramilitaries.

On August 23rd, 2010 a caravan of widows and orphaned children had been
planned but could not leave because of an ambush of its organizers by the
paramilitaries. Three people were killed and two were injured with high
caliber guns; their names were Rigoberto González, Antonio Cruz and
Antonio Ramirez. The caravan would have arrived in Mexico City to denounce
the repression and its consequences.

On September 14th, 15th and16th, 2010 the MULT-UBISORT paramilitary
attacked the community with guns, leaving many families wounded and
several dead. Many went towards the mountains, which began the
displacement of the 700 families of the MASJC.

9 months of the protest camp have gone by in Oaxaca City and a year in
Mexico City. These camps have been comprised mainly of women and children,
living in the street in very difficult conditions, without bathrooms,
houses, school or medical attention, and sometimes lacking food. Due to
these factors the joint-decision was made by the displaced MASJC and its
Communitarian Assembly to reclaim their houses and the territory of which
they were displaced. To this end the Caravan of the Color of Blood was
organized. The caravan departed May 23th, 2011 from Oaxaca City for Mexico
City with the aim of recovering the territory on May 28th, 2011. However,
the caravan, formed by the people of Copala, and accompanied by social
organizations and national and international activists, has been called on
by the governor of Oaxaca, Gabino Cué, who was pressured through their
political work to personally arrive in Mexico City on May 27th, 2011. The
people were warned that the security conditions do not exist for the
return of the displaced to their community and were summoned to a meeting
in Oaxaca City, where it was proposed to them that in a maximum of 10 days
the necessary conditions will be fulfilled, conditions which the National
Commission of Human rights previously recommended on May 24th, 2011, on
the basis of recommendations by the Inter-American Commission of Human
Rights in Washington, D.C on October 7, 2010.

The Caravan of the Color of Blood and the MASJC, without trusting the
governor, grant this term to the government, thus to be able to enter in a
peaceful way and to secure the success of one of the objectives of this
Caravan, that is the return of the displaced to their community. We ask
the international community to be attentive to the events of the next 10
days, which are decisive, and that as far as possible to take diverse
actions as a show of solidarity with the autonomous movements of the world
and in particular with the autonomy of the Triqui people and the MASJC who
decided to exert their right to self-determination by their own free will
based on their traditions and customs.

We summon all in their respective countries to a day of mobilization and
action on June 2nd, 2011, or on any and all of the next 10 days:

NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL DAY OF ACTION IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE AUTONOMOUS
MUNICIPALITY OF SAN JUAN COPALA, OAXACA, MEXICO

Organize demonstrations or telephone calls at Mexican embassies and
consulates in different countries, or any other action that with your
creativity or possibilities you can carry out to exert pressure on the
Mexican government as a show of international solidarity with the Triqui
nation and in defense of its autonomy.

The demands of the Autonomous Municipality of San Juan Copala are:

THE RETURN OF THE DISPLACED TO THEIR TERRITORY.

JUSTICE AND PUNISHMENT TO THOSE RESPONSIBLE (PHYSICALLY AND
INTELLECTUALLY) FOR THE MURDERS OF MORE THAN 30 COMMUNITY MEMBERS (AMONG
THEM CHILDREN, WOMEN AND TRADITIONAL LEADERS).

RESPECT FOR THE SELF-DETERMINATION AND THE RIGHT TO AUTONOMY OF THE TRIQUI
PEOPLE AND OF ALL THE PEOPLES OF THE WORLD.
…..

send news of actions to cdefensayjusticiamasjcblogspot.com and
municipioautonomodesanjuancopala.wordpress.com

14 people hospitalised in latest repression of the Oaxacan social movement

Feb 16 2011 Libcom.org

Section 22 of the Teacher's Union and the broader Oaxcan social movement
take to the streets to protest the arrival of fraudulent President
Calderon. Federal Police open fire with live rounds and tear gas grenades,
resulting in at least 14 people wounded and hospitalised.

Today, February 15, federal and state police, thugs dressed in civilian
clothes, and snipers located on the roofs of various building in the
historic center of Oaxaca provoked and repressed the peaceful teachers'
and Oaxacan people’s protest against the presence of Felipe Calderón in
Oaxaca.

On the afternoon of Monday, February 14, an enormous deployment of federal
and local police bodies, together with the army, took the Zócalo and the
adjacent streets of the historic center. At 11:30 in the morning today,
February 15, a group of teachers belonging to Section 22 of the SNTE-CNTE
carried out a peaceful protest in one of the intersections leading to the
Zócalo when the Federal Preventive Police (PFP) attacked, leaving two
teachers wounded, one of them the union’s press secretary - Meliton
Santiago - and a compañero from the social movement who was shot in the
head. In the face of this aggression, the teachers defended themselves and
as a means of protest detained three members of the Federal Preventive
Police, which later resulted in a PFP operation where the PFP occupied the
union’s building - CEPOS 22 - where the teachers had held the PFP agents,
resulting in the violent detention of four professors who were in the
building. Upon regrouping at around 2pm, the teachers and the people in
general continued their protests in the area while more professors and
members of the general public headed towards the Zócalo, where they were
dispersed with tear gas and gunfire from snipers located on the roofs of
various buildings in the historic center. On Cinco de Mayo Street, still
several blocks away from the site of the protests, compañero “kalamar,”
who is a member of the Hormigas Libertarias Collective, was hit with
gunfire to the head. We feel obligated for the moment to withhold the name
of the compañero for legal and security reasons.

On the roof of the Casa Azul Hotel, located on Fiallo Street in the
historic center, the repressive police chief Daniel Camarena - an
inheritance of Gabino Cué from the murderer Ulises Ruiz - was seen in the
company of individuals dressed in civilian clothes who were carrying large
firearms, likely sniper rifles.

After two in the afternoon, tens of SUVs drove at high speed through the
tourist pedestrian area towards the former Santo Domingo convent where 50
meters from the entrance there was a blockade consisting of 12 soldiers.
These SUVs carried some of the committee members of the state and federal
governments, who entered the patio of Santo Domingo surrounded by tens of
federal police. At approximately 2:30pm at least 50 federal police were in
the tourist walkway to reinforce the siege.

Meanwhile, confrontations with the police stretched from the Zócalo to the
nearby streets. During this time on Hidalgo Street at Mier y Teran Street,
a black car with Puebla license plates TWM 9318 was seen leading a caravan
of eight military transport vehicles which carried tens of soldiers and
tens of individuals dressed in civilian clothes (at least 100) with
striped t-shirts and dark glasses who were “released” into the historic
center to carry out destructive acts in order to attribute them to the
protesters, among them the burning of a PFP trailer in the Zócalo and
apparently a bus on the road to Xoxocotlan. At the same time, the arrival
of a PFP airplane at the city airport carrying more federal reinforcements
was observed.

As of the time of writing this communiqué, 14 people have been confirmed
wounded, two with wounds to the head, the result of shots fired from
snipers located on the roofs near the Zócalo of Oaxaca, and one other
individual wounded with a live round to the body, as well as two other
people who have wounds as a result of being hit by tear gas canisters, all
of whom have been hospitalized as a result of the wounds they received.

In ISSSTE hospital in the city of Oaxaca four members of the teachers’
union - two wounded by gunfire and two by tear gas canisters - were
admitted. In the same hospital the PFP carried out an impressive operation
including patrol vehicles, ambulances and fire trucks to “remove” four
wounded members of the PFP who had also been admitted to the same
hospital.

This evening, tens of police officers and soldiers are based at Hotel
Parador Crespo, located on Crespo Street in the historic center, a
location which is less than two blocks from CASOTA, the building where our
organization, VOCAL, is based out of.

We denounced these events and hold Felipe Calderón and Gabino Cué
Monteagudo directly responsible. Cué has very quickly betrayed the trust
of the people of Oaxaca who believed in his promises that never again
would the police be used to repress protests.

We denounce the gravity of these events, above all the use of paramilitary
shock groups and snipers, as part of a clearly fascist strategy to repress
and intimidate the people of Oaxaca and its organizations and organized
sectors.

We denounce the institutional and media siege which have roundly denied
and ignored the presence of snipers and paramilitary shock groups who
infiltrated today’s protests.

We denounce the cynical and perverse attitude of Gabino Cué, who has
immediately called for dialogue with the Oaxacan teachers’ union and we
point out the danger and strain that the entire Oaxacan social movement
may be faced with if these grave events remain unaddressed as a result of
political agreements between the government and the leadership of the
teachers’ union.

We call for international and national attention to be paid to these
events in Oaxaca which appear to inaugurate an era of state fascism on
behalf of Felipe Calderón and his flunky in Oaxaca, Gabino Cué Monteagudo.

Today on the streets of Oaxaca it was heard: He’s fallen, Gabino has fallen!

Fraternally

Oaxacan Voices Constructing Autonomy and Freedom (VOCAL)
Oaxaca de Magón, City of Resistance, February 15, 2011

http://angrywhitekid.blogs.com/weblog/2011/02/gabino-cu%C3%A9-and-felipe-calder%C3%B3n-repress-the-teachers-and-people-of-oaxaca.html


Feb 16 2011
#1

In Spanish

Gabino Cué y Felipe Calderón reprimen al magisterio y pueblo de Oaxaca

El dia de hoy martes 15 de febrero policias federales, estatales, grupos
civiles de choque y francotiradores ubicados en las azoteas de diferentes
edificios del centro historico de Oaxaca provocaron y reprimieron la
protesta pacífica que el magisterio y pueblo oaxaqueño realizaban por la
presencia en Oaxaca de Felipe Calderón.

Desde la tarde del lunes 14 de febrero, mediante un enorme despliegue de
las corporaciones policiacas locales y federales junto con el ejército
tomaron el Zócalo y calles aledañas del centro historico. A las 11:30
horas de la mañana de hoy martes 15 de febrero un grupo de maestros
pertenecientes a la Sección 22 del SNTE-CNTE realizaba una protesta
pacífica en una de las bocacalles que conducen al Zócalo de la ciudad,
momento en que la Policía Federal Preventiva (PFP) arremetió contra ellos
y donde resultaron heridos dos maestros, uno de ellos es secretario de
prensa del sindicato de nombre Meliton Santiago y un compañero del
movimiento social quien recibió un impacto de arma de fuego en la cabeza.
Ante esta agresión los maestros se defendieron y en forma de protesta
retuvieron a tres elementos de la policía federal preventiva, lo que
motivó que más tarde un operativo de la PFP tomara el edificio de la
seccion 22 -cepos 22- donde los maestros retenían a los agentes de la PFP
y detuvieran violentamente a cuatro profesores que se encontraban ahí. Una
vez reagrupados los maestros y pueblo en general alrededor de las 2 de la
tarde, continuaron las protestas en las inmediaciones de la plaza,
mientras más profesores y personas del pueblo en general se dirigían al
Zócalo, mismas que fueron dispersadas con gases lacrimogenos y con
disparos de armas de fuego que francotiradores desde las azoteas de
diferentes edificios del centro histórico realizaron. En la calle cinco de
mayo y aún a varias cuadras del lugar de las protestas el compañero
“kalamar” quien es miembro del colectivo Hormigas Libertarias, fue
derribado de un disparo en la cabeza. Nos vemos obligados a reservar por
el momento el nombre del compañero por razones jurídicas y de seguridad.

En el hotel “casa azul”ubicado en la calle de fiallo en el cetro historico
fue observado en la azotea del mismo al jefe policiaco represor Daniel
Camarena herencia del asesino Ulises Ruiz a Gabino Cue en compañia de
civiles que protaban armas largas probablemente francotiradores.

Pasadas las dos de la tarde, decenas de camionetas circularon a alta
velocidad sobre el andador turistico con rumbo al ex convento de Santo
Domingo donde a 50 metros de la entrada ya se encontraba un reten de 12
militares; estas camionetas transportaban a parte de la comitiva de los
gobiernos estatal y federal, quienes ingresaron al patio de Santo Domingo
rodeados por decenas de policas federales, aproximadamente a las 2:30 pm
al menos 50 Policias Federales caminaron por el andador para reforzar el
cerco.

Mientras tanto los enfrentamientos con la policía se extendian del Zócalo
a las calles aledañas, en esos momentos se observó en la calle de Hidalgo
a la altura de Mier y Teran, un coche de color negro con placas del estado
de Puebla TWM 9318 que encabezaba una caravana de 8 camiones militares
tipo costeros que transportaban a decenas de militares y a decenas de
sujetos vestidos de civil (al menos 100) con playeras a rayas y lentes
negros quienes fueron “soltados” en el centro histórico para generar actos
de destrucción para atribuirselos a los manifestantes, entre otros actos
fue incendiado un trailer de la PFP en el zócalo de la ciudad y al parecer
un camion de trasporte hacia el rumbo de Xoxocotlan. En esos momentos se
observó la llegada de un avión de la PFP al aeropuerto de la ciudad de
Oaxaca con más refuerzos federales.

Hasta el momento en que se escribe este comunicado, se tienen confirmados
14 personas heridas, dos por heridas de bala en la cabeza, producto de
disparos provenidos por fancotiradores ubicados en las azoteas próximas al
Zócalo de Oaxaca y una más herida de bala en el cuerpo, además de otras
dos personas que tienes lesiones por impactos de gas lacrimogeno, las
demas se encuentran tambien hospitalizadas por los golpes recibidos.

En el hospital del ISSSTE de la ciudad de Oaxaca fueron internados cuatro
miembros del magisterio dos heridos de bala y dos más por granadas de gas
lacrimogeno. En este mismo hospital se observó la llegada de la PFP quien
en medio de un operativo impresionante que incluia además de patrullas y
ambulancias, hasta camiones de bomberos que fueron a “sacar” a cuatro
miebros de la PFP heridos, quienes habian sido internados en este mismo
hospital.

Por la noche decenas de policias y militares se instalaban en el Hotel
Parador Crespo ubicado sobre la calle de crespo en el centro histórico
lugar donde permaneceran esta noche a escasas dos cuadras de la CASOTA
lugar donde radica nuestra organización VOCAL.

Denunciamos estos hechos y responzabilizamos directamente a Felipe
Calderón y a Gabino Cué Monteagudo quien demasiado pronto ha traicionado
la confianza de los oaxaqueños y oaxaqueñas que creyeron sus promesas de
que nunca más la policía sería usada para reprimir la protesta social.

Denunciamos la gravedad de estos hechos sobre todo el uso de grupos de
choque paramilitares y francotiradores como parte de una estrategia
claramente fascista para reprimir y amedentrar al pueblo de Oaxaca y sus
organizaciones y sectores movilizados.

Denunciamos el cerco mediatico e institucional que ha negado e ignorado
rotundamente la presencia de francotiradores y de grupos de choque
paramilitares infiltrados en las protestas de este dia.

Denunciamos la actitud cinica y preversa de gabino Cué quien
inmediatamente ha llamado al diálogo al magisterio Oaxaqueño y alertamos
del peligro que se cierne sobre todo el movimiento social oaxaqueño si
estos hechos tan graves quedan impunes por acuerdos políticos entre el
gobierno y la cupula magisterial.

Hacemos un llamado a la observación internacional y nacional sobre estos
hechos en Oaxaca que parecen inagurar una etapa de fascimo de estado por
parte de Felipe Calderón y su lacayo en Oaxaca Gabino Cué Monteagudo.

El dia de hoy se escuchó en las calles de Oaxaca el primer ¡Ya cayó,
Gabino Ya cayó!

Fraternalmente

Voces Oaxaqueñas Construyendo Autonomia y Libertad (VOCAL)

Oaxaca de Magón, Ciudad de la resistencia a 15 de febero de 2011


Feb 16 2011 15:30
#2

Snipers shooting demonstrators marks new level of repression in Oaxaca

by Scott Campbell
Oaxaca. February 15, 2011

Felipe Calderon came to visit Oaxaca and brought with him more than 150
uniformed federal police. There were snipers stationed on the rooftops of
hotels. There were also several army trucks full of either police or
military dressed in civilian clothes. Allegedly, after the clashes
finished, these individuals set some cars on fire near the second class
bus station in an attempt to lure protesters there to be arrested (and of
course also to blame the protesters for the act).

Earlier today, as people were gathering for a march called by Section 22
against Calderon’s visit, snipers opened fire on those gathering. Two
teachers were hit. One in the butt and another in the head. Two other
individuals were hospitalized as a result of taking direct hits from tear
gas canisters. One in the head – Marcelino Coache, a prominent APPO member
– and another in the chest. All four will reportedly be fine. The march
went on and as the police tried to block them from getting into the
zocalo, clashes erupted.

Photos: Protest Against Mexican President Felipe Calderon in Oaxaca

People report that the police fired tear gas indiscriminately all over the
zocalo, which at the time was full of tourists. At one point, three
federal police officers were detained by activists to exchange for those
arrested by the police. That plan didn’t work out as the federal police
raided the location where the officers were being held, arresting more
people. For most of the afternoon, protesters and kops were battling it
out on Independencia and in the Alameda. Protesters used rocks and one or
two molotovs. Police used rocks, tear gas, and I also saw one throw a
molotov at the protesters. A tractor trailer parked in the zocalo was set
on fire and burned for at least an hour. After the truck started burning,
the police left and people just gathered taking photos. It was reported
around 6:30pm that clashes had started up again, presumably after the fire
had been put out and the police moved back in.

Section 22 held a press conference at 7pm. Initially it was reported they
have called a halt to negotiations with Oaxaca’s new governor, Gabino Cué
Monteagudo, as a result of the repression. Now it is unclear. In a gesture
to brush this under the rug, Cue has announced that the 14 people arrested
today will be released without charges. Four people remain hospitalized.
There will be a march leaving from IEEPO at 10am tomorrow morning. The
shooting of demonstrators in the head with live fire from snipers – which
has passed unmentioned by most of the media – marks a major escalation in
the level of repression being deployed against the social movement in
Oaxaca.

original:
http://elenemigocomun.net/2011/02/snipers-shooting-demonstrators-new-level-repression/

Feb 16 2011
#3

|n response to this repression Section 22 will today completely close the
13,500 schools of Oaxaca, block highways throughout the state and will
shortly begin a march through the state capital.

link to La Jornada article

http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2011/02/16/index.php?section=politica&article=005n1pol

http://www.noticiasnet.mx/portal/


Feb 17 2011 02:38
#4
More images here:

http://elenemigocomun.net/2011/02/protest-felipe-calderon-oaxaca/